Controlled radical polymerization (hereinafter CRP), including single-electron transfer living radical polymerization (hereinafter SET-LRP) and atom transfer living polymerization (hereinafter ATRP), is a process which produces various polymer products in high yield with functional, non-terminated ends, with high molecular weights, and with a low polydispersity index. In CRP, chain transfer and termination reactions are essentially nonexistent relative to the polymer propagation reaction. These developments have led to the production of polymers that exhibit precise and quantitative functionality and to the development of functional polymers that possess specific chemical reactivity. Thus, CRP has been employed to design a variety of polymer products. However, these polymer products typically produced through CRP resulted in curable products with functional groups at their terminal ends.
There has been a continuing effort to make the controlled radical polymerization as environmentally benign and as low cost a process for the preparation of functional materials as possible. Factors such as control over the polymer molecular weight, molecular weight distribution, composition, architecture, and functionality are important considerations in the design and execution of such methods.
There exists a need in the art for a method of radical polymerization which is efficient, effective, and can produce controlled polymer products with desirable properties, characteristics, and features reliably, as well as on a large-scale level.